HI! I'm julie...my blog is a mix of things..personal musings, inspiring quotes and stories, my art adventures, and every once in a while I post things that might be a little hard to read about, things going on in the world....Things that trouble me...often things we can do something about.

I'm a mixed media fiber artist, I believe in magic and the power of intent...I call my 'dolls' Spirit Figures because it feels like they come from Spirit to me, for you. I love what I do and I have been fortunate to have my Spirit Figures go home to places all over the world..I'm happy to be part of One World One Heartfor the third time.I think this is the last time the event is going to happen...If you've done this before you know what's what....but for those of you reading about this for the first time this is an international blogger event. We meet all kinds of creative bloggers from all over the world, make new friends, and maybe win something cool and we get to give something.

Talking Woman stick..she who holds the stick does the talking...great tool..Paper Mache' and paper clay..

Having a Heart to Heartthis Figure is about the healing that takes place when we speak from the heartusing a little humor......how we feel lighter.paper clay, paper cloth, rice meal paste painted and dyed cloth

What you do...

Leave a comment here, tell me which give away you want, I couldn't choose...Having a Heart to Heart or the Talking Woman stick Make sure to leave me an email address in your comment so I can contact you if you are the winner. I'll need to know where to send it.

I believe in Magic....I'm not talking about the abracadabra kind, although I enjoy it...

It's the magic Universe serves up that I'm thinking about.

I believe my Spirit Figures come to me, and through me, in a magical way.

Through my Muse..

she first came to me years ago during a vision quest.

She came as Nu Kua ....

.

She was alone in the world...there was no one to share and enjoy it's wonderful offerings.

She was very sad, the sad that comes from loneliness...

So she decided to create humans.

Gathering clay she lovingly made men and women.

She set them down in front of her so she could admire them, but as wonderful as her creations were they had no life.

Filled with love she picked them up and one by one she breathed her breath into their bodies, whispering the secrets of love and creation into their ears inspiring them to populate the Earth and create on their own.

Nü-Kua is also credited with teaching people art and passion and order....

Nu Kua...my first Spirit Figure, my Muse

When Nu Kua came to me, she was a stranger.

I knew nothing of the energy she carried or what she represents....

At the time I wasn't paying much attention to my creative self.

I would play at a few things now and then...

But she came and shook up my world,

to me she is very, very, real....

I have to call her to me...she takes all this seriously and wants me to be a full participant in the creation of the figures....

so she doesn't natter at me...she waits until I'm ready, open.

When she comes to spend time in my studio she can be very demanding...she likes to decide what atmosphere we will work in....sometimes quiet, and if the weather permits she likes the door open, sun shining in....but she likes the night too....

she has come to me in dreams to help me with construction problems...

sometimes it's all about candles, incense and music.... She likes the music loud.

Once the scene is set our dance begins...

The feeling is like nothing else....

Together we go through my studio looking for the elements needed to bring a Spirit Figure to into form. It's this time during the creative process when I feel so free..

and happy.....floaty, it's outer body.

I wish I could take you with me.

This is the time when my Muse has opened the door between here and there.

Like we all do, from time to time, I've been having some incredible learning experiences....

Life lessons...

many of them have been life shifting in the best of ways.

Lot's of joy...the kind that make me walk a little different in the world.

Things that make life richer, fuller, more colorful.

Unity...Seeds of Joy

I'm a Sagittarius...I ponder...

So I really give some thought to the things that rock my world. I like to savor the good stuff...Those experiences might only last minutes...but if I fully immerse myself some of that richness and color will remain with me.

Dancing with the End

...and the bad stuff...those experiences that shake my vision of the way things are in the world,

things that make me lose trust....the events that have me lose a little faith in things..

those have to be felt fully too...maybe find wisdom there...then the faith and trust seem to come back...But it can be so hard...

Since I have been a little out of balance lately from receiving a rapid fire amount of both ups and downs...I've really been wondering what has been at work in my life...what energy...

I was visiting a friend and on the table in front of me was an animal totem book...Animal Spirit Guides by Chris Luttichau...Since I'm always looking for signs from the Universe I couldn't resist picking up the book to see if it had something to say about what animal spirit might be at work in my life...The book had a little feather bookmark and that seemed like the place to go...marked just for mepage 81...The Coyote...The Trickster.

"Coyote is known as a trickster who forces us to adapt to unexpected situations.

He repeatedly instigates change, one of the things we often resent. Evolving through change and trial is one of coyote's lesson. When our lives are comfortable, we tend not to learn much....but faced with adversity we develop, grow, expand, and move on to become the person we are supposed to be. Life is not meant to be trouble free.

Coyote represents a force in the cosmos that doesn't always act with integrity, but does result in the events we need in order for our souls to develop...."

The Turtle is my always with me totem...

and when things get upside down she reminds me to breathe, meditate...

Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny--he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally--you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you.....

Osho

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight,

or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

e. e. cummings

Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we have learned here.

The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts....Marianne Williamson

~ Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable. Helen Keller

All that spirits desire, spirits attain. Kahlil Gibran

Don't wait for it. Know it's there already don't stop to feel it, move in its flow without thinking. don't test the wind, just lift your wings and leap....Teresa St. Cloud

Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence. Plato

i want to really really live. i want to laugh til my stomach tightens so much that it aches and my legs hurt from my slapping them.

i want to cry from my gut and let the tears wash me to where i need to go.

i want to hear the singing of my heart. and let the sounds echo inside me and i want to dance to that music.

i want to fill with compassion and touch someone's face so gently that they can feel the caring in my fingertips. i want to love so deeply that my cells vibrate with it and just standing near me you can feel the buzz of the vibrations.

i want to know that i'm worthy and good and i want to leave self doubt on the highway.

i want to touch the sky and recognize my soul in it.

i want to walk in the rain and drop to my knees in gratitude for this gift of life

i have been given.

may i never ever forget what a gift it truly is.Teresa St. Cloud

~ Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey. ~￼ Alex Noble

There are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love. Johnny Depp

The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Marianne Williamson

there would be a moment of silence for the victims of the Arizona shooting.

We are not the headlines....we can be the change we want to see in the world..

A moment of silence: it honors, is reverent
Yet perhaps now, today, ever-so-slightly irrelevant
In the silence is wisdom, reflection, and prayer
Yet also ambivalence (shrug shoulders) who cares?
A moment so brief and then back to distraction
A fleeting outpouring then default contraction –
The pain may be numbed, the sorrow diminished
Feelings reined in and perfunctory rituals finished
Yet who will sooth say that we’ve earned ourselves closure
By momentarily donning pale masks of civil composure?
Perhaps something different, a more earnest resolution
Might beget quantum leaps in our human evolution

Can we not connect up naked hearts everlasting
For the whole of existence, not simply in passing
Perhaps not a moment but lifetimes instead
To carry flowers to the living, light for the dead
And in place of the silence, the gesture outspoken:
Sweet kisses beyond tender, hugs that transcend the token
A touch beyond custom, a gaze caught, then lingered
Compassion and caring truly wrought, not malingered,
Collective blaming, decrying will not carry us forward
There are steps to be taken – not away from, yet toward
The first is to allow yourself fully to feel
The next to acknowledge your desire to heal,
Soon you let others know in true kindness expressing
That you recognize all that they carry! The blessings,
The pain, the loss, the joys scarcely known
And in their tearful eyes, you see mirrored your own.

In one moment of silence, untold songs can be sung
Words of love embosomed gently on the tips of searching tongues,
Unrestricted weeping melts away the frozen face of fear
And brings new life to barren blooms here, and here and here
Within the silence you will reap new treasures found within

I’ll bet you've spent some time in reflection about your 2010 experiences…I have too. I probably started right after I got back from the San Francisco show..,,,

It is amazing to me how much took place in the last 52 weeks…changes in my personal, spiritual, and my art life.....of course they are merged. A change in one area has effect on the other two…it’s good when I keep that in mind.

2010 was very good to me…filled with memorable experiences and teachers…Many doors opened for me…. I felt an instant kinship with many new people who came into my life… Some came and went quickly, others have stayed long enough so that we are experiencing change together…walking together for a while…I have been blessed with people who lift me higher....and those who challenge me...

Friend Vivian mind mapping New Years day...

Inspiration is intention obeyed..

Emily Carr

And now it is time to set my intent for the new year....I don’t do New Year Resolutions….I think they set me up for failure…but I do believe in setting intent….I like to really think about what it is I want to welcome into the new year…then send the invitation out into the Universe…

for this I need clear vision….and I'm not quite there yet...so many possibilities..

I believe the more precise the intent is, the more likely it is I will see the opportunities to help me along the way to attainment…When I set an intention I don‘t know how I’ll get there But I believe by sending it out to the Universe and opening up, I am calling that future, that dream toward me…pulling that destiny into my present moment……I believe the Universe will show me the path……

I look at the word attainment and I think it isn’t material things I want, it is experiences…I am wealthy with possibilities and in many ways it is because of all the creative people around me…I look at the people in my life and I am amazed by the incredible wealth of knowledge and experience they share with me…they are a kaleidoscope of love and creativity sending out this wave of good stuff that trickles down and around and inspires me to be better.

And even as scary as the world sometimes looks to me, I still have the belief, the hope, that things are changing for the better…

that there will be a shift and the world will wake up. …

I believe the Tribes are gathering for change…

that’s us….

One of my intents is to continue to create my figures…

I think art is a powerful force in the world…

I think the stories we share are powerful too…

Our experiences are usually very different than what we hear from corporate news…we don‘t have to accept what they tell us is reality…we don‘t have to believe in their wars, we don’t have to buy into the ’us’ vs. ’them’...we don't have to accept that there is lack..not enough to go around....…

This is a small planet and we are in this together..... we don‘t have to be afraid of each other…most of us want the same things, family, friends, freedom to choose our life path, a safe place to call home, love...

He is a reason to care...

The news that is broadcast to us all day, everyday is filled with bad new and things to keep us afraid of each other...it‘s surprising any of us leave our homes…the people who deliver the negative to us everyday are fear mongers, intent on keeping us afraid and in the dark…separate…but we are not separate…we share this little blue planet…and our intent can make a difference...and we don‘t have to walk alone…we can gather and support each other in our vision of a peaceful world..an abundant world....holding on to that vision, that intent,

the belief that we we can be the change we want to see in the world…step by step…it is up to us…I can make a difference…I believe together we will make a difference...…

Intention is the core of all conscious life.
It is our intentions that create karma, our intentions that help others,
our intentions that lead us away from the delusions of individuality
toward the immutable verities of enlightened awareness.
Conscious intention colors and moves everything.

Does this resonate...?

“A new consciousness and a totally new morality are necessary to bring about a radical change in the present culture and social structure. This is obvious, yet the Left and the Right and the revolutionary seem to disregard it. Any dogma, any formula, any ideology is part of the old consciousness; they are the fabrications of thought whose activity is fragmentation - the Left, the Right, the centre. This activity will inevitably lead to bloodshed of the Right or of the Left or to totalitarianism. This is what is going on around us. One sees the necessity of social, economic, and moral change but the response is from the old consciousness, thought being the principal actor. The mess, the confusion, and the misery that human beings have got into are within the area of the old consciousness, and without changing that profoundly,every human activity- political, economic or religious- will only bring us to the destruction of each other and of the earth.”

copyrights....

You can't copy anybody and end up with anything. If you copy, it means you're working without any real feeling....Billie Holidayfrom The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women...a portable mentor.....

A prayer....

May my feet rest firmly on the groundMay my head touch the skyMay I see clearlyMay I have the capacity to listenMay I be free to touchMay my words be trueMay my heart and mind be openMay my hands be empty to fill the needMay my arms be open to othersMay my gifts be reveled to meSo I may return that which has been givenCompleting the great circle.~the therma collective

me

I'm a mixed media fiber artists...A lifetime ago I attended a Goddess Doll Workshop given by jasa Johnson..the experience changed my life. It is there thatI met my muse...the Goddess Nu Kua. Her myth is that she created the world but was all alone with the beauty of it. So she created human spirits to keep her company and share in the magic. In my life she has provided me with endless inspiration to create the divine feminine in the form of what I call Spirit Figures..When she came into my life everything about my journey changed...
The Spirit Figures I create with her guidance feel as though they have more than just form...they have spirit. They have found homes all over the world...what a gift for me...xo

In the works....

Dear Julie! The pleasure was definitely all mine!!! I love what we created and the time spent with the nice women and YOU!!! I named my doll "Avia". She is proudly hanging with all of yours in my living room. I thought you would like to know that I have started 3 more. I have "Mother Nature" ready to get a body, a cat (who's head is a bit large and heavy?? ack! and a small face, yet to be determined. I bought decorative pieces and fabrics based on "feeling" as I shop along. I feel as if you have opened a whole new world to me, and for that I thank and bless you, my friend! I am amazed at my own ability to restrain myself and not feel "rushed" to completion on these soft sculptures. I like to let them make their own "evolution" of sorts. I usually feel a sense of urgency to get things done quickly, to see it done, but not with these. Thank you for your generosity of spirit and love. I love you and your beautiful soul. Hugs, Lisa

Hi Julie,

Well no wonder I was drawn to it - I've been calling Celtic energy to myself for several years now! :-)

I loved the workshop, being surrounded by women's energy, tapping into creative energy, and just giving myself a day to be free. And, I love my doll! She has an honored place in my home.

Thank you so much for sharing your creative inspiration with us!

Peace and blessings, Alcia

I loved the "entire" day. Good play, good times, good food, great company! My "goddess" is wonderful. It's amazing how everyone created their own "person" - THANK YOU!!!

My friends Ellen, Laurel and Alisha also had a great day. Can't wait for your mask workshop!!

Karin

Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.Will Rogers

Buddha said, "What you are is what you have been, what you will be is what you do now." Padmasambhava said, "If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look at your present actions." ....from the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying